How to Make Your Customer Journey More Engaging With Visual Content

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Daan Reijnders is the Co-founder and CEO of Instant Magazine, a content management platform that amassed 1000+ clients all over the world in under 3 years. He's a digital marketing veteran with years of experience in managing both SaaS companies and creative agencies.

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Content is what pulls prospects through your buyer's journey, but making your content stand out is becoming more difficult. Here's how brands can use visual marketing to make their customer journey more engaging says, Daan Reijnders, CEO, Instant Magazine

When your prospects search for a new product or service to, say, help make them more productive, how do you suppose they gather information to help guide their decision?

Chances are they start Googling, sometimes before even having defined their specific problem. Then, once they have a better idea of what needs solving, they may investigate several solutions before finally contacting a company — and if that company is you, you probably then send them more content to convince them you're the best option.

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While this customer journey may look a bit different depending on your target customer, it can typically be broken down into three stages:

Awareness: I'm aware that I need something, but I'm not quite sure what exact problem I'm trying to solve. I'm looking for educational content that will help me define my problem and point me in the right direction. Maybe your blog will help me.

Consideration: I know what my problem is and I'm researching different kinds of solutions. I'm browsing through products and options, considering whether each offers the solution that's right for me. I might check out your product page or watch a video.

Decision: I know exactly what I need to solve my problem and I’ve narrowed down the list of potential solutions to the best options. Now, which company has the best offer and what steps do I take to purchase? Right now might be a good time for a sales rep to give me a call.

As potential buyers move through each of these stages, they're likely to interact with numerous pieces of your content. Landing pages, blog posts, case studies, product pages, feature comparison charts and even emails will all play a role in whether or not they make it to each successive stage.

That means your content needs to be engaging, convincing and, most importantly, must leave a lasting impression.

But with the amount of content posted to the web every day, it's becoming increasingly difficult to get noticed. So the question is: How do you make your content stand out?

The answer is visual marketing.

People naturally respond better to snackable, visual content. Graphics, photography and videos have the power to capture (and hold) readers’ attention, which is increasingly important as competition over attention fiercens.

Below are six types of content where visual marketing can help guide buyers through the customer journey. You may already use many of these in your marketing strategy, but each one can be made more effective by incorporating the right visual marketing principles.

The Awareness Stage

In the awareness stage, more than anywhere else, seconds count. You have very little time to get your value proposition across. And given the fact that human brains process images up to 60,000 times faster than text, it's essential that content designed for this stage be highly visual.

Infographics

Infographics are multi-purpose pieces of visual content, full of useful data. They're a great example of visual marketing in themselves as the information they contain is quickly scannable and easy to digest.

Creating infographics can be quite time-consuming, and often requires professional designers. However, some do-it-yourself options have become available in recent years. You can find several free infographic tools here.

Whitepapers

When you think of a whitepaper or downloadable e-book, you probably think of a static, text-heavy PDF that delivers expert information at a cost — usually your contact details.

While white papers remain highly sought after, the problem with PDFs for brand awareness is that they offer poor user experience, especially on mobile. That's why more and more companies are ditching PDFs and producing interactive HTML5 white papers instead.

The consideration stage is all about showcasing your solution to those that are actively looking for one. And in this, a picture can speak volumes. Research by HubSpot has suggested that adding relevant imagery can increase information retention from 10 percent (without images) up to 65 percent (with images) three days later.

Newsletters

Many prospects in the consideration stage will have opted in, either via your website (perhaps by downloading a white paper), or via social media. Now, newsletters are a form of visual marketing that allows you to keep your audience continually engaged with content that piques their interests.

Just don't make the mistake of sending a pamphlet full of text. Why tell your audience about your solution if you can show them?

Whatever you communicate, remember to keep it brief. Keep it snackable.

Online magazines

Think of online magazines as more extensive versions of a newsletter. They allow you to show more content and communicate a particular story in a linear fashion. And like all magazines, they aim to captivate and inspire readers with plenty of stunning imagery.

Online magazines can be used for various purposes, whether it be thought leadership, with business cases and interviews, or even a product catalog that showcases a company's various product lines like this one from the flooring company, Forbo.

In either case, an online magazine gives you plenty of freedom to show off your solutions and should serve to provide your prospects with the insight, information and inspiration they're looking for as they consider their options.

The Decision Stage

Prospects in the decision stage are those with their credit cards already in hand. You're actively trying to convince them to choose you over the other guy. And given the fact that humans are more swayed by intuition than cold reason, nowhere is persuasive imagery more important.

Brochures

You may have a lot of great product features, but these shouldn't be the foundation of your brochure — visuals should be. Reserve the details and specifications for the last page, and focus the rest on impressing your reader. Get them to envision using your product; spark their imagination, trigger their dreams and speak to their emotions.

Brochures are often used in the awareness stage, but with persuasive imagery that evokes emotion, they can also be just what an indecisive prospect needs to finally make that purchase decision.

Presentations

Depending on your type of company, it's likely you'll be giving presentations or demos for prospects in the decision phase. If you do get the opportunity to directly present your offer to a prospect, please don't waste it with a slide deck full of text!

Some of the best presentations I've seen included little or no text whatsoever. Instead, there were images, videos and even GIFs that strengthened and supported the presenter's message. I still remember them, and that fact should speak for itself.

While presentations may sometimes fall into the awareness stage (like a conference keynote), they're more often applicable to the decision phase when you're trying to close a deal.

Conclusion

Whatever mix of assets you decide to incorporate into your marketing and sales strategy, remember to take a visual-centric approach to all your content. It's the best way to keep your potential customers engaged as they continue through the customer journey.